


Endings Are Just New Beginnings

by NightmareWolf



Series: EW Highschool AU [6]
Category: Eddsworld - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Comedy, Gen, Light Angst, not much else to say lol
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-15
Updated: 2019-04-15
Packaged: 2020-01-13 15:04:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,144
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18471400
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NightmareWolf/pseuds/NightmareWolf
Summary: Edd, a typical teenager going through typical teenage emotions, feels ignored, sad, and lonely......and ends up meeting somebody so different, yet so alike.





	Endings Are Just New Beginnings

**Author's Note:**

> WEW ive had this idea for a week now, finally wrote it. Hopes it's good!! I love minor characters nobody gives a shit about and expanding on them  
> sorry if it sucks ive been having writer's block
> 
> (watch Catherine's Adventure on the eddsworld newgrounds to get an idea of the character)

"Man, I'm too young to be having a midlife crisis."

Edd proceeded to chuckle following the mumble of words, but speaking it aloud is rather pointless since he was alone. 

Alone. It was pretty ironic, considering that was a teenager's  _dream._ All teens want to do is be alone and have the world to themselves, shooing out their parents and responsibilities. But Edd? Well, he was already alone most of his days. His parents worked so much he usually had the whole house to himself for weeks on end—at this point he wondered if they did it on purpose. Hey, he doesn't blame them, he'd neglect himself too. Digression aside, Edd was tired of being cooped up in his room and only coming out for school. At first, he texted his best friend Matt.

_"Hey matt,"_ he had texted.  _"Doin anything today??"_  


_"Actually yea,"_ Matt replied.  _"out w/ sm friends. sourry"_

Edd said it was fine; it couldn't be helped. After all, Matt was Mr. Popular—knew everyone in the school, dozens of friends, went to every party, hit on by multiple chicks...and Edd, well, Edd was a nobody. An outcast. It's a surprise Matt stuck around him, really. It's  _gotta_ hurt his reputation. Whatever. Edd didn't take it personally.*

*(that's a lie. He totally did.)

So, next Edd texted Tom.

_"Tommmmm u there,"_ he had sent.  _"Wanna hang out?"_  


_"omg i cant im sorry,"_ Tom replied several minutes later.  _"shopping with my mum!! i can buy u chocolate tho"_

_"No thanks XP"_

Okay. Tom was out, too. Literally; he was out with his mom. As silly as it was to imagine, it must be fun spending time and bonding with your parents. Maybe he should do that sometime—oh, wait, his parents are never  _around_. 

_"Tord u fuckin weeb u up,"_ Edd sent.  


An hour goes by, no reply.

Fine, be that way! 

He didn't need his friends, anyway! All they did was mock and belittle him (even though he does the same exact thing to them)! They were probably having loads more fun without him. So? He could have fun without them, too! He wasn't  _dependent_.

And so, that's when he decided to go to the park. It was a nice, warm evening. The sun bathed the grass while the trees provided shade to its blinding rays. It was weird being in the park alone like this. He usually came with at least Tord, but being here by himself...it really made him feel no less lonely than he did in his house. The only difference was that he's sweating now. He walked across the long stretch of warm grass, through the open moor and past the baseball field eventually winding up a hill. At the top of the hill was an old set of swings, rusted but still worked like new. Edd sat down on the tar black seat, comforted by the coolness offered by the shade from the overhead tree. With a deep sigh, he began an idle swing, not moving more than a few inches to and fro. His mind wandered off elsewhere, staring out across the field. The sun covered the grass in an amber sheen, making it look more yellow than green to Edd. Trees rustled from the soft wind and their chorus of psithurisms were tranquil. It felt so peaceful; so free. Yet, if it  _were_ so free, why did he feel trapped under this blue sky? It extended its reach to the stars, to space, to the milky way, infinitely expanding. It was as free as free could be, yet it was suffocating. Why was that? Was it because he knew he'd never be as free as the sky? That he was trapped and doomed to do the same monotonous things until he died? That he was forced to live with the knowledge of everything bad that's happened to him, of everything bad that he's done to himself?

The thoughts caused him to uncomfortably chuckle aloud to himself, "Man, I'm too young to be having a midlife crisis."

Having a midlife crisis at the elderly age of below 20, how funny. Wasn't there an Ed, Edd, n' Eddy episode about that? Edd couldn't care to remember. Why should he care to remember? Those cartoons he loved—and he himself—would all turn to dust one day along with this planet. There was no point in cherishing these things and no point in living to see them—damn it, did  _every_ little thought have to devolve into some self-deprecating emo monologue?

Edd hadn't even realized that he had stopped swinging all together, and was now just sitting on this suspended black seat, staring blankly at the ground. He must look really stupid right now. He decided to lift himself up from the swing, his legs feeling a bit weaker now. With a glance back at the swing Edd trekked down the hill, almost tripping at the steepness. At the bottom, he made his way across the park to the edge of the forest. There, in the shade, lied a cement cylinder, or as Edd called it, “the cyilmentder”. Nobody knows how or why it's here innocuous sitting by the edge of the forest, but it was. Edd liked it, because it was big enough for someone like him to crawl in and lie down. So he did just that. He crawled into the cylinder, his hands grazed across the rough surface as he let his muscles loosen, letting him fall with a soft thump. It wasn't tight but it wasn't spacious either. Just like the Goldilocks tale, it was  _just right_ and provided shade and security away from public's scrutinizing eye. It was times when he was alone and depressed like these that something as simple as this healed his spirits. He allowed himself to close his eyes and take in the tweets and chirps of the birds, the rustling leaves and the cold yet safe feeling of the cement. He knew he shouldn't fall asleep here, but it was just so tempting. He wanted to get away from everything and everyone—maybe he wasn't too different from a stereotypical teenager, huh?  


Almost in the same breath as that thought, heard and felt a  _thump._ Quickly following it was the sound of an exasperated sigh. Edd narrowed his eyes, his body tensing. Somebody else was here? Where? He pushed himself forward and poked his head out the cyilmentder. Nobody. Okay, maybe he should just get out and—

"Is somebody in there?" A voice sounded. It was a girl, and she was really, really close by. 

"Uh, yeah, where—"

he was once again cut off when he saw a face appear upside down from where he was looking out. Instinctively, he gasped and scooted backwards. The girl, who Edd could now see had long, brown hair, chuckled. "Are you stuck?" She asked.

Edd huffed. "Of course not!" As if to prove his point, Edd moved backwards until he was out of the cyilmentder. He stood up, the girl who was looking at him upside down now was right side-up. She was  _on top_ of the cyilmentder. Ohhhhhh. That explains it.

"You look familiar," The girl spoke again. "Go to school around here?"

"Uh, yeah. There's not any other school near this park, is there?" Edd chuckled instinctively.

"There was one, actually," The girl, who was wearing a purple hoodie, corrected. "I heard it got closed down after a bomb went off."

"What? No kidding? When this happen?" Edd asked with shock evident in his expression.

"Ohhh, a long, long, looooong time ago. Like, we weren't born yet."

"Ah," was the only reply to come out of Edd's mouth. He tilted his head, seeing something black in the girls lap. He wondered what it was, only for him to soon identify it as a worn out old plush of a penguin. 

_ Kind of reminds me of Tom and his stupid Tommy Bear, _  Edd thought with amusement.

"Oh! Anyway, yeah, I'm Catherine. You're Edd, right?" The girl, whom Edd now knew as Catherine, asked.

"U-Uh, yeah. How'd you know—"

"We have the same art class!" She jumped off the cyilmentder. "I see you with that Tom kid a lot. You're always drawing in that class."

"Well it  _is_ art class," Edd pointed out.

"Yeah, but, we paint and do all kinds of stuff. You're always just drawing, though."

"Yeah? I like drawing. So?" Edd crossed his arms, his tone giving off a hint of irritation. Catherine, however, seemed completely oblivious to this.

"I like drawing, too! My parents think it's dumb, but I'm always doodling stuff," she explained, then pocketed her penguin doll in her hoodie. "You know, I've seen your art. It's really good!"

"Oh—" Edd felt his cheeks heat up, and it wasn't because of the sun. He put a hand on the back of his neck and chuckle. "Uh, thanks, I guess."

"Hey, don't mention it," Catherine flashed a friendly smile. "So, what are you doing out here?" 

"Bored, I guess." Well, hey, it wasn't technically a lie.

"Oh, cool, me too!" Catherine excitedly replied (people don't normally get excited by finding other bored people, do they?). "Bored of doing your homework?"

"Actually, I finished it in class."

"Aw, lucky!" Catherine gave a comedic pout. "I still have to do it."

Edd thought back to the school day and all the homework they had received. Out of all the boring vocab and math sheets, the piece that stood out to him was the history packet, since every kid in the school was complaining about it. "The history packet?" He reiterated his thoughts aloud.

"Ugh,  _Yes,_ " the girl let out a mix between a groan and a growl. "I hate history."

"Dude, same here," Edd chuckled. "I usually get one of my friends to help me."

Saying this made Catherine's eyes flicker, as if reminding her of something. "Hey, you know Matthew Hargreens, right?"

Edd was, admittedly, a little off-put by the sudden question. "Er, yes?"

Catherine's eyes lit up a bit. "Oh, awesome! I think he's really cool, I'm way too nervous to talk to him though..." She rambled, a bit of her speech becoming more quiet towards the end. Edd inwardly groaned. Ugh. Girls and their silly crushes.

"Well, he's usually pretty nice. I'm sure he'd like to meet somebody just as chatty as him," Edd chuckled. Thankfully, Catherine giggled as well.

"Are you sure? I mean, he's  _so_ popular...I don't want to embarrass myself!"

"Just compliment him, he loves compliments," Edd replied with a smile.

Catherine looked back, unsure. "But doesn't everyone?"

"Exactly," Edd responded matter-of-factly, which made Catherine giggle again.

"You know, I used to wonder why Matt was always around you, since you two are total opposites on the social scale." Wow. This girl  _really_ had no filter. Edd was almost about to tell her off for being so rude (especially when they were just getting along!), but she continued before Edd could even open his mouth. "But I can see why now, you're really cool."

The sudden 180 in Catherine's words made Edd dizzy. "Uh." He couldn't help but chuckle, bewilderment flooding him. "Uh, I don't know, er, where you got that from, but thanks?"

"C'mon, I'm sure people have told you before!" Catherine gave a light, playful shove, to which Edd responded, "not usually, no."

"Oh. Well I'll be the first, then. You're cool." 

"Thanks. I guess you're pretty cool, too," Edd lightly shrugged and scoffed with amusement. "If not really chatty."

"Yeah, people say that a lot." Catherine was actually silent for a moment, her eyes looking over at a huge tree before back at Edd. "What's it like being in a big friend group?"

"Hm?" Edd quizzically hummed. "What—"

"Oh, sorry if that sounded strange. Whenever I want to talk to Matt I see him usually with you and two other dudes. Tom and that one exchange kid—"

"Tord."

"Yeah, yeah, Tord. I hope it doesn't seem creepy, I just kind of notice these things. One time, I noticed my neighbors dog had shorter nails than it did yesterday! My mother says I'm attentive."

This completely off topic ramble took Edd for a loop. He stared, utterly lost at what Catherine was saying. Either the girl didn't notice or just didn't care as she continued.

"So? What's it like?"

"I-I...still don't get the question."

"Like, what's it like being in a friend group? With multiple friends? I've never been in a friend group."

"Oh. Well..." Edd hummed, collecting his thoughts. He wasn't sure why this girl asked so many questions, or why she had the tendency to suddenly jump from topic to topic, but he shoved those thoughts aside and instead he thought back to multiple memories. Trying to remember how being in a group as diverse as his was like, and how he could even begin to describe it...

 

_ "I win again," Edd had grinned, giving Tom a push on his shoulder. He almost knocked the other down on his side. _

_ "No fair!" Tom whined. "You  _ always  _win!"_

_"Yeah, 'cuz you just suck at Mario Kart."  
_

_"I got second," Matt had interjected. "And I would have won if it weren't for that damn blue shell!" Saying this, he glared at Tord, who shrunk a bit in his trench coat._

_"I did not knew what it did! Edward told me to press trigger button!"  
_

_"And it worked perfectly," Edd giggled._

 

"Well, I guess sometimes it's a lot of fun, having multiple people keeps things alive."

_"Hey, Edd! Tord, Tom, and me are going to a party. Wanna come?" Matt's smile portrayed a blissful ignorance that Edd couldn't bare to break. He bit his lip, looking at his friends._  


_"Uh...I think I'll have to pass."_

_"Huh? Why? There's gonna be free food!" Tom, who had too huge of an appetite for his own good, seemed confused by Edd's denial._

_"I know, I know, it's just...you know..."_

_"I don't know," Tom frowned._

_"It's, uhm..."_

_"Oh, I get it!" Matt snapped his finger. He looked at Edd with a smirk. "You're afraid of going out past your bedtime."_

_"No!" Edd hissed indignantly._

_"Maybe he is scared of people," Tord proposed._

_"Hey, I don't blame him. People are cruel. But...free food, come on!" Tom replied back to Tord, added on with a laugh._

_Matt suddenly broke in again, "well, are you going or not, Mr. Goody-two-shoes?"  Effectively cutting to the chase._

_"I, uh, I'm...I'm not going, no." Edd's voice became quieter near the end of his reply, and the snarky chuckles from Matt and Tord did not help his confidence._

_"Okay, well, have fun doing homework, or whatever," Matt had dismissed playfully. He knew Matt didn't mean it, but their comments and laughs really upset him. He wished he could tell the truth on why he couldn't go, but he knew he couldn't. It made more shame, loneliness, and sadness well up in him._

_"Don't worry, I'll bring you back a cupcake," Tom promised before running off with Matt and Tord._

 

"Other times there's...a lot of peer pressure and rejection feels way worse than usual. You can easily be cornered and ridiculed by everyone else in a group."

 

_"I do not know this word." Tord pointed to a part of their English homework._  


_"Ambiguous?" Tom reiterated, looking to where Tord was pointing._

_"Yes. Ah...Ambiiiguous."_

_"No need to drag out the i, dude," Edd smirked._

_"What do it means?" Tord asked, looking up at Tom._

_"What_ does  _it_ mean _," Tom corrected._

_"I do not know, that is why I ask you."_

_"No, I mean—Agh, nevermind...It means vague or unclear," Tom explained._

_"So...could I said Matthew's glasses is ambiguous?"_

_Matt laughed, tapping on his glasses. "You mean foggy?"_

_"That's not how you use the word, Tord," Edd replied more bluntly to their Norwegian friend._

_"Oh. That suck," Tord replied with annoyance, to which Tom said, "welcome to the English language."_

 

"But I always find that having a group makes even mundane tasks pretty fun. If you have the right group it'll feel like a family."

"Oh! That sounds really nice," Catherine mused and began to hum. "Wish I had a group."

Edd tilted his head. "Do you not have enough friends?" 

"I have one, but she doesn't talk to me much," Catherine shrugged. "You ever feel like your friends ignore you or mock you for stuff you like?"  


"Yes!" Edd blurted out a  _bit_ faster than he would have liked. "I-I mean, it can feel like that at times."

"I'm glad I'm not the only one." The brunette gave a chuckle, though it seemed less spirited and less humorous than the others. "I bet popular kids don't have to deal with that."

"Of course not, they have  _so_ many people," Edd responded, a bit of venom leaking in his tone. He couldn't help but think back to that text message from Matt. Sure, it wasn't Matt's fault that he was popular and well-liked and had friends and basically  _had_ everything that Edd  _didn't_. Maybe he was just being jealous. Actually, he was  _definitely_ just being jealous. Despite acknowledging this, it still made him angry. 

"You know, I think I'd get along with you better than I would have with Matt," Catherine admitted. "We have a lot in common."

"I guess we do, huh?" Edd's shoulders lowered as his anger melted. Talking to somebody new, somebody who was in the same boat as him, reassured Edd a bit. 

"Hey," the light in Catherine's voice returned as she looked back at the huge oak tree she had momentarily gazed at earlier. "Can you climb a tree?" 

Edd blinked. "Uhm, no. I can't."

"Here, I'll teach you, then!" 

Without allowing protest, Catherine grabbed Edd's wrist and dragged him over to the giant oak. Edd felt a bit intimidated by its size. He had never climbed a tree before, and heights made him a bit dizzy. He felt Catherine let go of his wrist and attach herself to the tree, her legs and arms swinging around the trunk as she hoisted herself up. Edd watched, wide eyed in awe, as she grabbed onto the first branch and lifted herself onto it. She looked down at Edd with a grin. "Come on! I'm waiting!"

"I'm not a squirrel like you!" Edd called back as he grabbed hold of the tree.

"No, no! No grabby. Hug the tree!" 

_I'm not a tree hugger!_  Edd huffed to himself, but did as instructed and hugged the tree.

"Push yourself up!"

 _Easy for you to say!_ Edd pushed himself, literally and metaphorically, making it a few more inches up the tree. He painstakingly began to climb it, keeping a death grip around the oak's bark and slipping a few time. Each time he slipped he would gasp and cling on tighter, only adding to the filthy remnants of the bark now under his nails. Panting, he hoisted himself up on the nearest branch as Catherine had already gone ahead.

"Don't look down! You can use the branches to help you climb!"

"Thanks, Captain Obvious," Edd muttered under his breath. With a tight grip, he rose from branch to branch. He was much slower than Catherine in his ascension, but managed to make it as high as her. He rested on the thick branch bellow where she was, his grip refusing to loosen and his entire body shaking like a leaf. Get it? Because he was on a tree? Ha ha...

Catherine, on the other hand, sat casually on the branch, seemingly unafraid of the height or of falling. "Edd! Look, look!" 

Edd hummed in question, looking up at the girl. She was pointing in the distance, and so Edd followed her gaze. He blinked. Being so high up, little leaves blocked his view. He could see the entire  _town._ He could see multiple houses, he could see cars that now seem like plastic toys' from the distance, he could see the power lines farther away and other trees. The sun was setting behind the horizon, blocked only by the homes. "Wow..." 

"I do this all the time," Catherine said. "It never gets boring."

"I...I never really thought I could get this high up," Edd laughed. "It's kind of incredible."

"I know right? It's like flying!" Catherine pulled out her penguin plush, holding it to her chest. "I wish I could fly."

"I wish I could, too," Edd chuckled.

Edd's mind, for once, went silent. His thoughts and fears weren't bugging him. The loneliness had dissipated. All he was focusing on was the sunset, and the beauty of how it looked. And once the sun finally sunk behind the houses and dusk reared it's head, Catherine spoke. "I wanna show you something."

Before he could ask what that something was, Catherine was already climbing down the tree, making it seem effortless. Edd, on the other hand, felt sick the moment he looked down. "Oh God," he mumbled. "Catherine! How do I get down!?"

"Uh, loosen your grip!" Catherine called.

"That's a terrible idea!" Edd yelled back.

"Have fun living as a flightless bird, then!"

With a groan, Edd reluctantly loosened his grip. He sucked in a sudden inhale as he slid down. His instincts kicked in and he reapplied his grip, suspending him on the middle of the tree.

"What are you waiting foooor?" Catherine spoke up.

"I'm scared!" Edd, uncharacteristically, whined out.

"Come on, boys don't get scared!"

"This boy does!"

Catherine snickered, rolling her eyes. "I believe in you! You can do it!" She encouraged. Edd gulped, his heart thumping wildly as he let go again. He fell like a boulder off a cliff, and landed on the ground, knees buckled, with a pained grunt.

"You did it! Yay!" Catherine clapped.

Edd once again groaned, this time in pain. It was scary, and it did hurt, but it wasn't  _that_ bad he supposed. Plus, he figured the view made it worth it. 

"Come on, before it's dark!" Catherine began running the opposite direction of the oak tree, and Edd had to sprint to keep up with her. They ran through the forest, its shade making it dark and harder to see as they navigated their way through. Edd audibly panted, trying his hardest not to lose sight of the girl. Thankfully, her purple hoodie made her stand out from the greens and browns. Eventually, the forest began to narrow and the trees were sparser in number. The ground became more uneven and was even more of a tripping hazard than the woods. Edd wanted to call out to Catherine, to tell her to stop running, but just as he thought that, she stopped. Edd caught up with her, panting harshly as he rested his hands on his knees. His throat and chest felt dry, and saliva drooled out of his mouth.  _God,_ he was out of shape.

Catherine, on the other hand, only gave mild pants. She at least waited until Edd was less tired before continuing on, and only walking this time. Edd followed her, and was able to notice this time the number of rock formations. Many had moss growing on them and were all kinds of shades of brown. Some even formed what looked to be small ravines. He blinked a couple of times, awed by the size of some of these rocks and cliffs, but managed to not lag behind Catherine. Soon, she made a turn into one of the more narrow and damp ravines. Hesitantly, Edd followed, and was confused when she stopped suddenly.

"Uh, why—"

"Here!" Catherine cut him off, showing him what appeared to be a thick slab of rock against the ravine wall.

"Uh...cool rock?" Edd squinted. 

Catherine made a  _pfft_ noise. "No, the rock's not the important part! It's  _behind_ the rock!" 

"Behind it?" Edd's confusion was only magnified as Catherine struggled to push the slap to the right. 

"Y-Yeah, it just—" she grunted, budging it slightly. "It's hard to move, hold on."

"I can do it, you know," Edd offered. He motioned Catherine out of the way and quite effortlessly shoved the large slab to the side. Catherine seemed rather impressed, as she gasped with a wide, open smile and twinkling eyes.

"You're super strong!" She squeaked. Edd couldn't stop himself from chortling.

"Yeah, I get that a lot."

Behind the rock was a small formation. It looked to be a hollowed out part of the Ravine, it's opening huge and slowly narrowing the further you got in. It seemed like you could fit two or three people in there. Already in there, however, was a flashlight and a book, from what Edd could see in the darkness. 

"Look, look," Catherine squeezed herself in. When Edd didn't follow, she added, "don't be shy! Come in!"

With an ounce of doubt, Edd crouched and wobbled into the cave. It was dirty, obviously. It was also very dark and damp, and Edd cringed a bit as he sat on the soft earth. "Is this some sort of secret liar?"

"Yeah, actually," Catherine smiled, flicking on the light. "It's my, uh, explorer cave? Hideout?"

"Uh, what do you..." Edd was going to ask her to elaborate, but in the newfound illumination from the flashlight his eyes caught a glimpse of a worm not too far from him. Edd cringed and found himself subtlety backing away vainly, as he was already against the wall.

"What do I what?" Catherine prompted at Edd's sudden silence. That was, until, she saw the worm. She made a small  _oh_ noise and giggled, picking the worm up with her free hand. "Do you like worms?"

"Ew! No!" Edd hissed. "I  _hate_ bugs!"

"Aww, why? They're cute! Plus," she looked at Edd with a sly grin, "I thought boys liked gross things."

"Well, I don't. I despise bugs, they freak me out."

"What if somebody said they despised you and that you freak them out? How would you feel?" She teasingly inquired, attempting to get Edd to feel empathy for the insect. 

"I wouldn't care. And I don't care for stupid bugs!"

"Okay, okay," with a chuckle, she placed the worm away from Edd. "Before Mr. Wormy showed up, what were you gonna say?"

"Uh, What do you do in here, exactly? Other than talk to bugs, that is," Edd snorted, and Catherine joined in with a giggle. 

"I go through my book here!" She held forward a notebook. "It has notes and pictures of places I want to explore."

"Explore?"

"Yeah! Like, places that look pretty, or places that have rumors attached to them...I explored the closed down school, you know!" 

"Really?" Edd narrowed his eyes. "What did you find?"

"A dead body," Catherine answered borderline dramatically. 

"Eh—R-Really?" Edd froze, feeling his blood turn cold for a second, before he growled. "You're just fuckin' with me."

"Yeah, you're right," Catherine laughed quietly. "It was spooky, but boring otherwise."

Edd let out a sigh of relief. Okay, good. He didn't want to know of the existence of a dead body. "Er, isn't it—"

"Dangerous?" Catherine guessed, to which Edd nodded. Catherine scoffed. "Man, you're the wimpiest boy I've ever met! Most would be totally into this!"

"Well, I'm just  _different,_ okay!?" Edd snapped back, Catherine's words striking a cord with him. It seemed this girl loved to ridicule him for not being  _boyish_  enough, and it was starting to piss him off. "What girl climbs trees, befriends bugs, and has a hideout!? Not many!" He counted the points off his fingers as he hissed them out.

Catherine blinked in surprise at Edd's sudden outburst. She stared with those same wide eyes in the deafening silence before slouching down, a regretful look drawn on her face. "Sorry, I guess I never thought about it that way. Thanks for telling me."

Now it was Edd's turn to look on in shock. He was expecting a rebuttal, a fight, not...not for her to apologize and thank him. Not even  _Tom_ did that! But, admittedly...it made his anger melt away like ice. It made him realize she wasn't trying to mock him, and it was a genuine misunderstanding. It honestly made him feel kind of happy; reassured. He couldn't help but let a smile grow on his face. "Thanks for understanding."

She smiled back and opened up her notebook. "I'm going to Verdin Lake next," she told him as she pointed to a picture of a large, open lake, one that had deep blue waters and trees surrounding it. Edd reiterated, "Verdin Lake?" in a confused tone.

"Known for the invasive species of verdins that live there, it's a really pretty lake surrounded with trees. I want to go there just to see the sights, but also because there's a famous rumor of treasure," she grinned ecstatically. "People think it's fake, and it might be, but I'm too curious! I want to find it—that's not dumb, right?" She ended her ramble rather apprehensively with the question, looking at Edd with uncertain eyes.

Edd shrugged. "I don't think it's dumb. Pirates looked for treasure, you can too."

There was a pause. Soon, Catherine responded, "right!" She nodded, her confidence returning. "I think it'd be fun if you came with me."

"Me?" Edd asked with a chuckle of disbelief.

"Yeah, you, silly! You've been awesome to hang out with today. I'd love to have somebody with me next time I go somewhere."

Edd was a bit stumped with his choice, but Catherine has been such a nice breath of fresh air. Somebody a lot like him, somebody who wasn't closed off or anxious, somebody who apologized earnestly and spoke her mind. Yeah, she was chatty, a bit bold and extreme, but maybe Edd needed somebody like that in his life. Somebody who was extreme in the  _right_ ways. He'd much rather explore a pretty lake than go to an illegal party, anyway. So, with a smile, Edd nodded.

"Sure, what's your phone number?"

Her eyes practically lit up as bright as the flashlight as she scrambled to find the pen in the back of the cave, quickly writing down her number. "Here!" She proclaimed, tearing out the piece from her notebook. "Can we meet up tomorrow after school?"

"I don't see why not," Edd answered. 

And with a few more exchange of words, Edd found himself already walking home. Dusk had almost turned to night, and the sky was a dark blue by the time he had reached home. His clothes were dirty and so were his hands, but he didn't mind it all too much. Today was the first day in a while he had felt  _alive_. And, for once, he was looking forward to tomorrow.

**Author's Note:**

> side note; i like to think edd learns a bit from catherine and starts apologizing more sincerely to his friends and theyre very confused.


End file.
